Anti-yawing combination



T. R. PEDERSEN ANTI-YAWING COMBINATION May 14, 1963 Filed May 4, 1961 2Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. Thomas R. Pedersen BY eum/s' War/Ii, S4flo- ATTORNEYS May 14, 1963 'r. R. PEDERSEN ANTI-YAWING COMBINATION 2Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed May 4, 1961 INVENTOR. Thomas R. Pedersen BY lut/Ma/r/s' d .9 5 014 ATTORNEYS This invention relates to an anti-yawingdevice for barges or scows. It is well known that a barge or scow, whenbeing towed at the end of a hawser, will yaw to either side of thecourse of the tug instead of following in its wake, thus making itimpossible to tow in a narrow channel or without endangering otherpassing craft and without unduly increasing the horsepower and timenecessary to transport the barge and scow from place to place. Thisyawing becomes so extensive at times that the barge or scow will ride upalong side and spaced from the towing tug to the extent of the length ofthe hawser, thus making it necessary for the tug to change its course tobring the barge or scow back into proper towing position with the resultthat the course is unduly increased and horsepower and time are wasted.

Even when the barge or scow is lashed alongside the towing tug it stillhas the tendency to yaw, making it necessary for the tug to set a courseto compensate for the force applied to it by the yawing.

The present invention is designed to prevent the yawing of the barge orscow to any detrimental extent, thus conserving horsepower, time andcourse distance and overcoming the endangering of passing craft.

Additionally the use of the yawing device of this invention enables thetowing company to increase its towing field since it enables it to towbarges and scows in narrow channels and in heavy traffic.

Since barges and scows are of similar construction exept for theposition of the load-carrying deck, for convenience, the two will bereferred to hereafter as a barge; but the invention is applicable toboth.

In the drawing, I have illustrated one form of antiyawing device or"this invention in which,

FIGURE 1 is a partial perspective view of the stern of a barge, showingthe 'anti-yawing device in position;

FIGURE 2 is an elevation looking at the stern of the barge and showingthe position of the anti-yawing device in relation to the light orunloaded waterline of the barge;

FIGURE 3 is a fragmentary plan view of the stern of a barge with theposition of the anti-yawing device shown in dotted lines;

FIGURE 4 is a fragmentary view of the anti-yawing device looking at theside of the barge adjacent its stern;

FIGURE 5 is a fragmentary view showing a modification of the anti-yawingdevice in section; and

FIG. 6 is an elevation of the anti-yawing device shown in FIGURE 5.

' Referring to FIGURE 1, the side of the barge is indicated by I, whilethe stern rake is indicated by the numeral 2. In the barge disclosed,this rake is curved upwardly from the bottom 3 to the deck 4, but it isto be understood that the invention is equally applicable to bargeshaving straight or plane upwardly inclined stern rakes.

The anti-yawing device comprises generally a plate 5 which is angular inform. This plate may be made in two parts joined together at the vertexor of a single plate and is secured to the rake of the barge by means ofbrackets 6 which are preferably welded to the plate and to the plates ofthe barge, when the barge is constructed of or sheathed by metal.

As shown in FIGURE 3 of the drawing, the two sides of the plate 5diverge rearwardly and, as shown in FIG- URE 2, upwardly from the centerline or garboard strake of the barge. It is to be particularly notedthat the antiyawing device is at all times completely below thewaterline of the barge. In FIGURE 2 the unloaded or light waterline ofthe barge is indicated by the dot and dash line 7.

It is also to be noted that the lowest point of the antiyawing devicewhich is indicated at 5' in FIGURE 2 is above the bottom 3 of the bargeso that if the barge is drawn up on the ways or on a surface for repairor inspectionthe anti-yawing device will be well protected and notdisturbed.

In the form of the invention shown in FIGURES 1 through 4 the verticalwidth of the plate 5 is, preferably, constant from end to end of thedevice and each of the brackets 6 is smilar to the others.

When the barge, even of 130 ft. length, is towed bow first by means ofthe usual hawser and bridle, the drag created by the anti-yawing devicehas been found in actual practice to prevent any detrimental amount ofyawing and to cause the straight tracking of the barge, and this eventhough the resistance added to the barge is very small and thus requiresvery little horsepower.

In a tested barge, which tracked almost perfectly, the length was 130feet, the vertex of the angle of the plate 5 was at the centre line ofthe barge and the ends of the plate terminated equidistant from thesides of the barge as the invention contemplates, the beam 36 0", thevertical width of the plate 5 was 0' 9", the angularity 10 15', thelength of the plate from the garboard strake or center line to each endwas 17' 6".

Because of the fact that the plate 5 on each side of the center line ofthe barge recedes toward the stem at the same angle to the center lineas the opposite side of the plate, the drag or resistance is normallyequal on both sides of the center line or garbo-ard strake. Thus thetendency of that portion of the plate 5 at one side of the center lineof the barge to swing the stern of the barge will be met by equal forceapplied to the other side of the plate. Thus the yawing tendency in oneor the other of the directions will be overcome.

The trials have revealed that the wake of the tow with the anti-yawingdevice in place is flatter than that of the tow absent the anti-yawingdevice and that there is less white water.

In FIGURES 5 and 6 of the drawing, a modification of anti-yawing deviceis illustrated. In this form of the invention, the plate 5 on each sideof the garboard strake or center line is provided with a verticallyadjustable fin 8. These fins are secured in their vertical relation tothe plate 5 by suitable means such as by bolts 9 and nuts It which boltsextend through holes 11 in the plate 5 and slots 12 in the fin 8. Thesefins are, as shown in the drawing, independently vertically adjustable.

Provision is made for this adjustment so that if, under any conditions,it is found that a greater drag on one side of the garboard strake orcenter line is desirable, adjustment quickly may be made to compensatefor the encountered variation. Also, if in any given instance it seemsadvisable to have a vertically wider plate, this may be accomplished byvertically downwardly adjusting both of the webs into the position shownin FIGURE 6.

To protect the plate 5 and brackets 6 from injury by vagrant lines orropes, guards 13 are provided which are secured at the ends of the plate5 and to the barge as illustrated in FIGURES 3 and 4.

Barges with the anti-yawing device of this invention mounted thereonhave been in practical use both loaded and unloaded for many months andover hundreds of miles of towing and have demonstrated the satisfactoryanti-yawing effect of the device of this invention.

While I have illustrated and described the preferred 3 forms of theinvention many details of construction and of dimensions and angularitymay be changed without departing from the spirit of the invention orexceeding the scope of the claims.

What I claim is:

1. The combination with a barge having an upwardly and rearwardlyinclined stern of an anti-yawing device mounted on said stern arrangedentirely below the light waterline of the barge and comprising anangular substantially vertical plate having the vertex of the anglearranged forwardly of and below the ends of said plate, said vertexbeing arranged in line with the longitudinal center line of said barge,said plate being of constant width throughout its length and the endsthereof being equidistant from the sides of said barge and from the beamof said barge.

2. The combination with a barge having an upwardly and rearwardlyinclined stern of an anti-yawing device mounted on said stern arrangedentirely below the light waterline of the barge and comprising anangular substantially vertical plate having the vertex of the anglearranged forwardly of and below the ends of said plate, said vertexbeing arranged in line with the longitudinal center line of said barge,said plate being of constant width throughout its length and the endsthereof being equidistant from the sides of said barge and from the beamof said barge, and vertically adjustable fins mounted on said plate atboth sides of said vertex.

3. The combination with a barge having an upwardly and rearwardlyinclined stern of an anti-yawing device mounted on said stern arrangedentirely below the light waterline of the barge and comprising anangular substantially vertical plate having the vertex of the anglearranged forwardly of and below the ends of said plate, said vertexbeing arranged in line with the longitudinal center line of said barge,said plate being of constant width throughout its length and the endsthereof being equidistant from the sides of said barge and from the beamof said barge, and independently vertically adjustable fins mounted onsaid plate at both sides of said vertex.

4. The combination with a barge having an upwardly and rearwardlyinclined stern of an anti-yawing device mounted directly on said sternand consisting of an angular vertical plate member consisting of twodiverging Wings and having the vertex of the angle arranged forwardly ofthe ends thereof.

5. The combination with a barge having an upwardly and rearwardlyinclined stern of an anti-yawing device mounted on said stern andarranged entirely below the light waterline of the barge and consistingof an angular vertical plate member consisting of two wings and havingthe vertex of the angle arranged forwardly of and below the endsthereof.

6. The combination with a barge having an upwardly and rearwardlyinclined stern of an anti-yawing device mounted on said stern andarranged entirely below the light waterline of the barge and consistingof an angular vertical plate consisting of two wings and having thevertex of the angle arranged forwardly of the ends of said plate, saidvertex being arranged in line with the longitudinal center line of saidbarge.

7. The combination with a barge having an upwardly and rearwardlyinclined stern of an anti-yawing device mounted on said stern andarranged entirely below the light waterline of the barge and comprisingan angular vertical plate having the vertex of the angle arrangedforwardly of the ends of said plate, said plate being of constant widththroughout its length.

8. The combination with a barge having an upwardly and rearwardlyinclined stern of an anti-yawing device mounted on said stern andconsisting of an angular vertical plate member consisting of two wingsand having the vertex of the angle arranged forwardly of the ends ofsaid plate, said vertex being arranged in line with the longitudinalcenter line of said barge and the ends of said plate being equidistantfrom the sides of said barge and from the beam of said barge.

9. An anti-yawing device for barges consisting of an angular anti-yawingplate, the legs of said plate being of equal length from the vertex ofthe angle of their ends and a fin mounted on said plate at each side ofthe vertex thereof and adjustable to increase the effective width ofsaid plate to increase its drag ability.

10. The combination with a barge having an upwardly and rearwardlyinclined stern of an anti-yawing device mounted on said stern arrangedentirely below the light waterline and above the bottom of the barge andcomprising an angular substantially vertical plate having the vertex ofthe angle arranged forwardly of and below the ends of said plate, saidvertex being arranged in line with the longitudinal center line of saidbarge, said plate being of constant width throughout its length and theends thereof being equidistant from the sides of said barge and from thebeam of said barge and a plurality of spaced vertical fins extendingrearwardly from said plate and at substantially right angles thereto.

11. The combination with a barge having an upwardly and rearwardlyinclined stern of an anti-yawing device mounted on said stern arrangedentirely below the light waterline of the barge and comprising anangular substantially vertical plate having the vertex of the anglearranged forwardly of and below the ends of said plate, said vertexbeing arranged in line with the longitudinal center line of said barge,said plate being of constant width throughout its length and the endsthereof being equidistant from the sides of said barge and from the beamof said barge and a plurality of spaced vertical fins extendingrearwardly from said plate and at substantially right angles thereto andspaced substantially equal distances apart.

12. The combination of a barge having an upwardly and rearwardlyinclined stern of an anti-yawing device mounted on said stern arrangedentirely below the light waterline of the barge and comprising an openangular plate extending downwardly from said stern of said barge, thevertex of the angle being at the forward portion of said angular, plateand the portions of said plate on the opposite sides of said vertexextending rearwardly from the vertex and being of substantially equalareas with the ends thereof substantially equidistant from the sides ofthe barge and from the beam thereof.

13. The combination of a barge having an upwardly and rearwardlyinclined stern of an anti-yawing device mounted on said stern arrangedentirely below the light waterline of the barge and comprising an openangular plate extending downwardly from said stern of said barge, thevertex of the angle being at the forward portion of said angular plateand the portions of said plate on the opposite sides of said vertexextending rearwardly from the vertex and being substantiallysymmetrical.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS883,455 Friedel Mar. 31, 1908 923,648 Gunnel June 1, 1909 1,442,522Nachenius Jan. 16, 1923 1,980,114 Taylor Nov. 6, 1934 2,068,921 LeighJan. 26, 1937 2,930,338 Flomenhoft Mar. 29, 1960 2,971,487 Plum Feb. 14,1961 2,984,200 Toussel May 16, 1961 2,994,290 Merchant Aug. 1, 19612,998,792 Hasler Sept. 5, 1961 FOREIGN PATENTS 3,719 France Dec. 7, 1904838,860 France Dec. 16, 1938 423,165 Italy July 7, 1947 1,210,934 FranceOct. 5, 1959

1. THE COMBINATION WITH A BARGE HAVING AN UPWARDLY AND REARWARDLYINCLINED STERN OF AN ANTI-YAWNING DEVICE MOUNTED ON SAID STERN ARRANGEDENTIRELY BELOW THE LIGHT WATERLINE OF THE BARGE AND COMPRISING ANANGULAR SUBSTANTIALLY VERTICAL PLATE HAVING THE VERTEX OF THE ANGLEARRANGED FORWARDLY OF AND BELOW THE ENDS OF SAID PLATE, SAID VERTEXBEING ARRANGED IN LINE WITH THE LONGITUDINAL CENTER LINE OF SAID BARGE,SAID PLATE BEING OF CONSTANT WIDTH THROUGHOUT ITS AND LENGTH AND THEENDS THEREOF BEING EQUIDISTANT FROM THE SIDES OF SAID BARGE AND FROM THEBEAM OF SAID BARGE.